Patagonia, Chile

Patagonia – Castro, Puerto Chucabuco and Punta Arenas

28 Jan 2014

Next stop was Castro on Isla de Chiloe.

We caught the ship’s shuttle bus to the main square and church and then walked down to the waterfront to see the palafitos or stilt houses.  The church was a brightly painted wooden structure and quite interesting inside.

We found an art gallery and coffee shop in one of the palafitos where we had a coffee and some carrot cake on the deck overlooking the river.  The view from the gallery’s deck was superb and we were able to see the palafitos from the river side which is much more impressive than from the roadway.

29 Jan 2014

The next day we were in Puerto Chacabuco.  Unfortunately overnight the weather had turned bad and it was misty and raining.  We had a tour organised for this port which took us for a bus ride around some of the area.  The scenery was superb and if it weren’t so misty and wet, the views would have been excellent but in spite of the weather you could see the beauty of the area.

The highlight of the tour was a stop at a Chilean farmhouse where we had lunch and some local folk dancing.  We had lamb cooked over an open fire and empanadas, both of which were delicious. 

 The folk dancing involved some audience participation and I got roped into doing a session with one of the dancers; unfortunately in spite of my previous experience with being roped into folk dances on the ship I was no better at it than before.

After lunch we made our way back to the ship.  While we did not have any dramas on our tour, one of the tour buses organised by the ship got held up for several hours by a landside caused by the heavy rain.

30 Jan 2014

The next day we sailed south towards the Chilean Fjords.

31 Jan 2014

The next morning we were up early to see the scenery in the Chilean Fjords which is spectacular.  We get very close to the Amalia Glacier and had a great view of it from about two kilometres away.

1 Feb 2014

Today we arrived at Punta Arenas, which is Chile’s southernmost city, on the Magellan Straight.  Before the Panama Canal opened, ships sailing between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans used the straight and took on fuel and provisions here rather than take the more dangerous route around Cape Horn.  While this loss of trade was a significant blow to the local economy, the city survived to become a major base for the Chilean Navy.

We wandered around the town for a bit but there was not a lot to take in.

 

The major attraction is a metal statue in the central square with large bare feet.  Apparently if you kiss the feet of the statue you will have smooth sailing across the Drake Passage.  I am not sure if that works or whether by kissing the feet you pick up so many bugs that you are so sick you don’t notice the sea state!

From Punta Arenas we headed to Ushuaia in Argentina

On the way we sailed through narrow fjords in an area called Glacier Alley.  The scenery was breathtaking and we saw several glaciers.  The weather was perfect with bright sunshine and blue skies and the snow covered mountain tops were visible.